Williams students Sofia Barandiaran, Julia Gunther, Cristina Mancilla, and Del Rose Hooker Newball speak to the City Council.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A Complete Streets inventory project undertaken by Williams College students offered a number of scenarios for making a more pedestrian and bicycle friendly loop around the downtown, with the consideration of removing at least one lane from Main Street.
Sofia Barandiaran, Julia Gunther, Cristina Mancilla, and Del Rose Hooker Newball, all from the college's environmental studies program, worked with Amanda Chilson of Northern Berkshire Community Coation's Mass in Motion and Eammon Coughlin of Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, both of whom have had a hand in the city's Complete Streets programming and grant applications.
"It has been our goal to create a living document that will provide guidance on our locally owned streets to be a helpful document when there's any routine repaving, maintenance or future construction projects," Chilson told the City Council at last week's presentation. "Just know that these are recommendations and we'll go from there."
Barandiaran said the students looked at connections between Main, Eagle, Marshall, Center, Holden and River streets, along with St. Anthony Drive and Route 2 and the Veterans Memorial Bridge as to how they could be better designed to align with the state's Complete Streets program.
"The goal of our project was to make North Adams multimodal, which means having pedestrian, cyclists on the streets while also not sacrificing vehicle accessibility," said Newball. "We also wanted to improve linkages within downtown items and promote good health and walkability."
They said some 1,400 communities across the nation have adopted Complete Street policies to encourage development that enhances safe walking and bicycling opportunities that promote health while also reducing greenhouse gases by made by motor vehicles. Their research found that, nationally over the past decade, driving has increased slightly and walking not much at all yet there's been a 35 percent increase in pedestrian deaths.
Their report assessed "key downtown streets" to offer design possibilities that could be done when the city does paving or other road construction. The survey specifically looked at low-cost options as well as more ambitious redesigns.
Main Street was considered the backbone of a transportation network that loops around the downtown. And they believed that the city has "enormous potential" for implementing Complete Streets at minimal cost mainly through repainting and routine repaving to create bike lanes on at least one side of the streets reviewed. Option 2 would be more costly and require more work in shifting lanes and possible structures but could be implemented strategically as the city does reconstruction projects.
Some 61.4 percent of the city's residents live within one mile of the downtown core and the streets are wider than the standard so there is a real opportunity to create a safe walkable and bikable infrastructure that would greatly benefit residents, they said.
Taking out a lane on Main Street would not reduce parking but would create room for a single or double bike lane; taking out two travel lanes would allow bike lanes on both sides. One option would allow for design barriers — benches, planters, bus shelter etc. — between the sidewalk and the bike lane.
Holden has enough room for a single bike lane or a double, if the street was made one way between Center and Main. Between St. Anthony Drive and River Street, there's room for two bike lanes on each side. River Street between Eagle and Marshall could accommodate a parking lane and a bike lane, or remove parking to provide space for two bike lanes.
Marshall Street between the overpass and Main is wide enough to for two bike lanes with the existing configuration; the lanes could run along the traffic lanes or could be run between the sidewalk and the parking spots. There's also enough room between St. Anthony Drive and River to continue both bike lanes.
"I think there's definitely parts of this that are great and other things that as we move forward with the city that would have to be considered," said Council President Keith Bona.
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North Adams Liquor Store Has New Owner; Vegan Eatery Gets Alcohol License
By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The former V&V liquor store is expected to reopen under new management.
The License Board on Tuesday approved two license transfers including one for V&V and a license for a restaurant in the former BrewHaHa on West Main Street.
Tracy Rackauskas and Benjamin Dinsmore, owners of Migration Taco truck, purchased the old West End Market for $253,500 in December. They applied for an-alcohol license for their newest venture.
"We are hoping to have a small vegetable-forward restaurant there that will serve dinner from Thursday through Sunday 5 to 10 p.m.," said Rackauskas. "We're focusing on scratch-made ingredients using seasonal produce. It's going to be vegan, which is sorely missing cuisine here in restaurants."
When asked how having alcohol would complement their fare, she responded that "as vegans if we go out to dinner, we would like to have a beer with our meal.
"And I think, especially with all the natural wine that's happening and the environmentally friendly focus, which is what we're really into. I think it would absolutely enhance our vegan offerings."
The two said they had some experience with alcohol service having worked at breweries. Rackauskas said she was TIPs-certified (Training for Intervention Procedures) and that staff would also be.
The License Board on Tuesday approved two license transfers including one for V&V and a license for a restaurant in the former BrewHaHa on West Main Street.
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Board Chair Peter Mirante thanked the sponsors of the breakfast event at the Berkshire Hills Country Club, including his employer, Adams Community Bank, for allowing him to attend the nonprofit's many events and functions and encouraging his involvement. click for more
The three candidates for Select Board discussed their visions and qualifications last Monday at a forum sponsored by the Council on Aging at the Community Center.
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The Northern Berkshire United Way on Thursday saluted members of the community who have stepped beyond their roles to help and support others. click for more